Caroline Pegram, LCSW
I am a white, able-bodied, neurodiverse, queer person living with complex trauma who uses collective and internal liberation approaches to find healing. I have learned from intersectional feminists, environmentalist + abolitionist activists, and queer theorists and embrace the perspectives offered by these mentors.
I am available to offer trauma-informed consultations for professionals, group facilitation + speaking engagements.
I am currently operating on a waitlist for individuals 13+ who are seeking 1:1 support.
I consider myself to be a peer and a mentor.
Peer: a human currently experiencing some of the hardest parts of life .
Mentor: a human with lived and learned experience navigating the hardest parts of life.
I am dedicated to providing a space that is Anti-Racist, LGBTQQIAAP+ affirming, Fat Liberating, Sex Positive, and Disability Justice Oriented.
I am here to provide a trauma-sensitive container that encourages you to connect your inner dots, experience the vitality that comes from being embodied, and create new connections that encourage you to live within your values.
We will grow through intentional conversation and exploration of your felt physical sense while holding systems accountable for influencing the quality of your lived experiences.
Healing without acknowledging the role of systems is, in my opinion, a lie.
What are systems?
They are small, medium, and large entities that influence the ways in which we are allowed and able to move through the world.
Some examples of systems can include family, race, government, culture, ancestry, class, religion, community, media, health care.
Have you noticed how very few of these systems leave us with a strong feeling of safety + grounding?
When we spend a little time reflecting on these few prominent systems, it can be pretty illuminating how much of our internal worlds are directly shaped by the entities in which we experience externally.
These systems can often drown out our own voice.
Together we will zoom in and out of the direct experience and the collective experience to understand where your voice truly lies.
What People Are Saying About Working With Caroline
Education + Trainings
Bachelor of Social Work – University of NC Greensboro
Masters of Social Work – University of NC Chapel Hill
Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga (300 hours) – Center for Trauma and Embodiment in Brookline, MA, with David Emerson
Dismantling Racism (6 Days of Intensive) – Racial Equity Institute Greensboro, NC
Yoga Teacher Training (250 hours) – Asheville Community Yoga
Reiki II – Earthstar Spiritual Center Oak Ridge, NC
EMDR Certified – EMDRIA Institute Charlotte, NC
Herbalism– People’s Medicine School
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy – Duke University Durham, NC
Trauma and Release Exercise (TRE) – Yoga Calm Portland, OR
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy – Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute
Pleasure Witch Academy + Boss Witch - Luna Dietrich
Foundations in Embodied Ancestral Inquiry - Wildbody Somatics
Jan 2023 - June 2023
Getting Personal for a Moment
(Because Why Would I Not Share Pieces of Me, While Asking It Of You?)
I’m a human healing from complex trauma, tending to her attachment wounds, and validating the hell out of big, messy emotions that show up in the process. My preferred love language is ‘Acts of Service’, which is how I most enjoy showing up for others. I get a deep sense of satisfaction when it’s socially acceptable to skip pleasantries and move straight to the depths of who we are (thank you, Scorpio Moon!)
I have sort of an instinctual urge to keep things growing (Sag Sun), while also valuing the potent medicine of sitting with life’s darkness. I will frequently remind you (and myself) to possibly zoom out and see the intricacies of our lives, with the hope of creating clearer insight and more access to choice.
In a sense, I’ve been primed for this work well before one should begin priming for the life of a trauma therapist.
My ‘introduction courses’ landed me utterly disconnected from myself–trying to feel okay by way of chaotic substance use, restrictive disordered eating, relentless body shame, and by developing a personality steeped in codependent patterns.
Growing up, I experienced a pretty dysfunctional + unpredictable home life (even as I write this now, my brain says “but other people had it worse, so you probably shouldn’t include this in your personal statement.”)
The truth is, my brand of trauma was just enough to overwhelm my little nervous system and leave me with a whole laundry list of trauma responses to sort out later in life.
This graduated into a teenager who had dysfunctional and unpredictable friendships. Then that teen grew into a young adult who entered into multiple dysfunctional and unpredictable romantic and sexual relationships.
There are points in my life where I was a living, breathing tornado of a person. All the while, I was truly just trying to find stable ground.
Even during some of my most hellacious moments, I was still pretty good at performing the skills required by capitalism to not be seen as a dysfunctional human being. This performance of ‘being good’ dug my grave deeper and deeper until I felt like a shell of a human.
After a few especially hard hits that left me feeling a life-threatening sense of abandonment, I decided to get honest with myself about the level at which I was actually struggling.
This process involved me confessing to some very shameful behaviors of mine, putting down all drug and alcohol (which I was using heavily to manage feelings of impending doom + anxiety attacks), attending free mutual aid groups for 4 years, putting the little money I had towards the type of therapy I really needed (trauma-sensitive + somatic-based) and journaling my way through this whole period of spiritual awakening. Plus, a lot of falling down, crying, and asking for help.
My change process boiled down to me being vulnerable, leaning on community, practicing patience, and offering myself an unseemly amount of compassion.
While the pain and complexity of my life experiences are still very much a part of me, I’ve found ways to take these inner liabilities and grow them into being my inner resources.
In fact, these parts of my life are largely what allows me to show up in the ways that I do at Topaz Healing.